Club pro Michael Block caused a sensation in the 2023 PGA Championship at Oak Hill in New York, briefly eclipsing Rory McIlroy in the final round when finishing in a tie for 15th.
Block, with McIlroy playing alongside him, famously slam-dunked a 7-iron in Sunday’s closing round to become the most famous club pro on the planet.
The PGA Professional is back in another Major this week. Here we look at his life and times.
Born? Block was born in Nevada on 15/6/76 so will be eligible for the seniors in a couple of years. He grew up in Iowa and St Louis and played his adolescent golf at Bellerive, home to two PGAs and a US Open. He attended and played golf at Mississippi State and the University of Missouri-St Louis before receiving a degree in golf course management from the San Diego Golf Academy.
Turn pro? He was an assistant for six years, from 1998-2004, before becoming the head Pro at Arroya Trabuco in California. He qualified for the US Open at Oakmont in 2007 but it wouldn’t be until 2014 that he would play in his first PGA Championship – this year will be his seventh start in the event.
First pro win? His first professional win is listed as the California State Open in 2001. He would win $4,500 for his efforts – in more recent times he has won the Southern California PGA Championship four times since 2017 and played on two PGA Cup teams.
Married? Block is married to Val and they have two children, Dylan and Ethan.
Interests? Away from golf these are listed as family, skiing, fishing and tennis.
Earnings? It’s hard to specify how much Block has earned but his biggest pay day came at the 2023 PGA when he famously pocketed $288,000 for his 15th place. He played in six events on the PGA Tour that season and missed the cut in five of them.
Equipment? Block now famously plays TaylorMade, famous because of his hole-in-one at the PGA two years ago while playing with Rory McIlroy in the final round. The club he holed out with is a TaylorMade Tour Preferred MC 7-iron and supposedly he was offered $50,000 for the club. He has ‘WHY NOT?’ printed on his TaylorMade balls.
UNBELIEVABLE!
MICHAEL BLOCK JUST DUNKED A HOLE-IN-ONE! pic.twitter.com/Qin8FYXFQV
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) May 21, 2023
Biggest achievement? He has enjoyed a fantastic playing career away from what happened at Oak Hill but ‘Blockie’ was on everyone’s radar when he played his way into the top 15 at the age of 46. At one point he was in a tie for second place. It was the highest finish by a club pro in decades and he did it with a style all of his own. Think Tin Cup meets something even more ludicrous.
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